Judgement Day

Judgement day comes every three months in our house. One tiny little blood droplet from Caitlin's finger will tell a three month tale of how well her pancreas (me, her, Dave, her T-Slim pump) have controlled her blood sugars for the last three months. The A1C test is the true measure of how our efforts from the previous three months have paid off. 

Hemoglobin A1C (also known as HbA1c) is measured in people with diabetes to provide an ndex of average blood glucose for the previous three to four months.  The normal A1C range for a non-diabetic person is 4-6%. For people with diabetes, the lower the A1C value, the lower the risk of developing long term complications such as eye, heart, and kidney disease.  The American Diabetes Association recommends that children with T1D strive to achieve an A1C below 7.5%. 

One would think it would be such a simple task.  Count your carbs, do the math, pump some insulin and Bam!  Perfect blood sugars!  If only.....  The variables and hurdles to achieving in-range and consistent blood sugars are endless.  Hormones, growth spurts, illness, stress, activity, glycemic index of foods eaten, etc, etc....  

Two years ago, at diagnosis, Caitlin had an A1C of over 13%. We're still hovering around 8. We're almost there but the jump from 8 to below 7.5 feels insurmountable at times.  Achieving tight control while safely avoiding lows is a fine line to walk. 

So we keep trying, working, and tweaking until we get things right.  Because we love her eyes, and we love her toes, and we love her kidneys, and we love her heart ❤️